Didsbury U11 v Alderley Edge U11 Match 10th June 2018

A picture of bucolic beauty, the tall grass sighing gently in the lightest of breezes framing a sepia tinged snapshot of a bygone England. A polite 21st century invasion of cars reverently made their way across the boundary to hide apologetically under the hedge. It seemed such a shame to tarnish a tranquil Sunday morning with anything other than the most languid physical effort. And the Didsbury innings matched perfectly the sentiment – no strained heaving, no urgent carving, just a gentle wave of the bat to some unconfrontational bowling. The game started like this and continued for 10 overs or so before Didsbury realised they rather had try and score some runs, if only to extend their stay in such pleasant pastures.

Liam eventually leaned into a few shots to find the boundary. He racked up another 20 odd in a fine season before finding the fielder at deep square leg. Jacob and Jude tried to pick up the run rate, but crashing fours is not really their game. Aware of the wickets in hand and the need to push the game on, both sacrificed themselves selflessly playing shots that were not stylish or neat enough to be part of their armoury. Ben strode out to the wicket fresh from a glorious innings a few days before but made the walk back the very next ball. The fickle hand of the cricketing gods can find a victim even in the sleepiest of parishes. This flurry of wickets seemed to disturb the game, even one or two of the parents were minded to stir from their gentle repose. Dillon was soon at the crease with Christian, a drinks break gave them a chance to settle on a strategy which was revealed after the break to be smacking the ball to the boundary. It didn’t quite stretch to running between the wickets, more an apologetic saunter, but the smacking boundaries bit was working. In no time Dillon had lost a ball in the unsuspecting foliage with a big 6 and was retired not out whilst Christian was playing his best innings of the season. Underneath the occasionally insouciant demeanour there is a determined batsman emerging and was rewarded here with his top score and a “not out”. Rahul meanwhile played a super little innings, rotating the strike and finding the boundary. Together they took the Didsbury to a respectable if not sizeable total.

The game restarted with Didsbury in the field looking for quick wickets and put the pressure on the Alderley batters. Dillon and Ben came charging in but the tranquillity of the surroundings was matched by the insipidness of the pitch. Henry couldn’t quite settle into the rhythm that has made him bowl so well recently and Liam, running in from Congleton, couldn’t budge the Alderley openers. Jack, returning here for the first time in a few weeks, was great behind the stumps. He set the tone for a good display in the field with the lowest number of extras conceded all season and was never overworked sufficiently to impede his stream of delightful chat and quips. Christian bowled very well with his 2 overs going for only 5 runs to cap an excellent personal performance. All the bowlers were well supported by the fielders; Ethan was particularly busy regularly galloping out towards the long grass. He had finally removed his sweater by now and managed to get a couple to go across the right handers but couldn’t entice a nick. Jacob bowled a good line but like many of the bowlers bowled a little too short. Rahul was notably bowling fuller which did look more threatening. But try as they might, the Didsbury team just couldn’t buy a wicket. Maybe Jude’s and Zac’s slower bowling would offer a different challenge. Zac managed a couple of lovely deliveries and Jude’s flight showed some potential, but with the batsman set it was difficult to inspire a false shot. Slow bowling is an important weapon though so hopefully Zac in particular will continue his development to provide a bit more balance to the attack. The opposition team batted very well even against a strong Didsbury attack and saw their team home in the 16th over.

On such a day, it would be impolite to dwell on results. There were some things the team could have done better but maybe on a day like this we should enjoy the simple pleasures of a lovely morning of cricket.